What's everyone doing about hand grips?

powervideo

powervideo

Well-known member
Just looking a a good hand grip solution for handheld work with the F3. There's so many out there. I have a Zacuto grip for my GH1 but it's a bit hard to grip for extended periods. Here are some of the ones I'm looking at. I hope to see more at NAB, but if anyone has any user feedback....
RR.jpgimage.php.jpgCinevate.jpgChrosziel.jpgZacuto.jpg

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I got the india knockoff of the older 15/19 Crosziel grips, cause it works for 15 and 19 mm rods - it´s so simple that even the indians can´t get that wrong and I´m pretty happy with them. It´s one of theyr better products and rocksolid.(they are still to expensive for what they are though).

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Next time I probably go with the Cinevate grips, more versatile and I like that "tactical" look.

Frank
 
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I'm going to copy a post I made on another board talking about handheld rigs:

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a tip to the best handgrips made, hands down at any price:

Little company called Camera Accessory Solutions, in the San Fernando valley makes these adjustable grip thingys called Spidergrips. They are super strong, mega adjustable, and pack down very small in your kit. By default for 15 LW rods, and 15 studio (a Los Angeles thing). I would imagine he has a center piece to do 15LW and 19 if you ask.

I have managed to make these work perfectly on every Red/DSLR/video camera I've used since I bought them 2 years ago. At the time they were $650. Now they've been raised to $850, because all his competitors were at that price too.

For a long time they've been this word-of-mouth thing in Los Angeles, maybe I can change that. The guy who makes them deserves it, that's for sure.

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Nate Weaver said:
I'm going to copy a post I made on another board talking about handheld rigs:

a tip to the best handgrips made, hands down at any price:
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Wow. They are expensive but nearly always in this game I reckon you get what you pay for and they do look beautifully made. I'll check his site out. Thanks Nate.
 
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powervideo said:
Wow. They are expensive but nearly alweays in this game I reckon you get what you pay for and they do look beautifully made. I'll check his site out. Thanks Nate.
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My experience is that a lot of companies jumped on the DSLR bandwagon with poorly thought out products that might look like they do the job, but when push comes to shove they drive you nuts or break. Early days of my Red I had Cavision grips to get by, even though I knew they were crap. They broke in the middle of a shot, the Red damn near rolled off my shoulder.

And then there's the Redrock grips sitting in my junk drawer, only used once. Or the original Red grips that wouldn't tighten down enough to stay put...people paid $775 for, realized they slipped, and then had to practically give them away on Reduser classifieds.

Choose carefully.

[edit: Another thing about the Spidergrips, I've done this on 2-3 different DSLR rigs, you fold the arms back under the body and have the handles sticking up to the sides of the camera body...lot like Redrocks "Captain Stubling" setup. Like Zacuto or Redrock, the configs are endless, but the difference with this is it's locking rosettes on every joint, so it will never slip when weight goes up]
 
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Yeah the Zacuto one drives me nuts. It constantly swivels under strees. Or has to tightened with Herculean strength to stop it from rotating. And it's expensive to boot. :(
 
I can vouch for the cinevate grips. I admit that I was skeptical before getting them, but was blown away by the build quality and how tight they attach to the rods.
 
I was checking you the Vocas at the shop yesterday.....$755 for the grips and $2090 for the whole kit (grip, shoulder , rails and camera mount). The stuff is really well made, but you pay for it. It also really stands out from the rest with it's leather grip.
 
bgundu said:
I can vouch for the cinevate grips. I admit that I was skeptical before getting them, but was blown away by the build quality and how tight they attach to the rods.
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+1

Work great, dirt cheap, I went with a single up front and the shoulder brace behind on my 15mm rods.
 
Lee Saxon said:
What'd you dislike about the Redrock? They've been working great for me.
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I let an experienced friend borrow the whole shoulder rig for a job, and the 1st gen baseplate came back stripped from some knucklhead AC.

Which is an extension of the same problem other companies have...they all rely on friction tie-downs on 15mm rods, so when they start slipping, you need to crank them down hard. Add cheap cast aluminum to the mix...strip city.

so now it sits in pieces in a drawer, waiting for when I need to build a lightweight rig for smurfs that won't stress whats left much.
 
I do like the O-Grips as well. In fact they I like them so much that they are the only grips I sell that I don't manufacture myself. It's well off the show floor, there maybe some private showings of the never before seen Kung Fu Grips during NAB.
 
Just bought the $135.00 Indian ones on eBay. Not much to lose really, and they seem okay according to reports.
 
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